《Do you fancy death?》 Why? - Ch 1 I laugh at myself for being in this situation. My entire life is made up of irony, depending on which side you were on. I was either your role model or an example of what not to be. Eleanor, the CEO of a successful company at the age of 29 ¡°wow how accomplished¡± is what everyone said about me without knowing anything about me or how I got here. Everyone says they want to be me, they want my money, my success, my opportunities. I wish I could hand it all over if it meant I wouldn''t end up where I am now. In a storm looking over the edge of the golden gate bridge with water rushing beneath me. In a couple moments my book will be released explaining where this all started and how I got here. I mumbled under my breath ¡°see you in the next life¡±. Before letting my foot slip and closing my eyes listening to the air rush by me. My ears filled with the sound of pouring rain hitting the water under me, until I took my last breath with an unrecognisable sense of relief. For the first time in my life taking a breath wasn''t a challenge, it instead left a feeling of calmness that spread through my body as I reached my last moments. ...The book was released and was followed with hundreds of thousands of questions from her co-workers, the press, everyone. Later the news got hold of the information that she had committed suicide. No one around her knew why she wrote a book or why she committed. All they knew is that they were left with this book she released the day she died. To their knowledge she was always happy and devoted to her work there was really no telling what her limits were. She was one of the youngest CEOs to a great company. In everyone''s eyes there was no reason for her to jump so why did she? Everyone had yet to realize the book sitting just at their fingertips was filled with the answer they all wanted so dearly, all they had to do was open it Her co-worker Leilah bought her book as soon as she heard the news. Leilah always considered herself to be Eleanors closest friend, when in reality Eleanor did not have any friends. Leilah was just her secretary and tended to pry farther than she should have. When Leilah bought the book she didn''t know what to expect. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Was it going to give her answers to the overflowing questions in her head or was this book something Eleanor just did for fun and this was all just coincidence? She couldn''t help but want answers, no matter how many times she went through it in her head none of Eleanors actions in the past year could have led you to think this would even be a possible outcome. Forget the past year she had been a great leader and CEO for the company since Leilah became her secretary in the first place 4 years ago. Leilah always wanted to work for a big company. She wanted to work with someone who wasn''t power driven. Instead she wanted to work for someone who valued fairness in a workplace and not connections, as well as the amount of effort you put towards your work. Leilah didnt come from a family that struggled financially or anything so when she got out of college she didn''t have to rush into work. She took small jobs here and there so her resume wasn''t blank but when she went into those jobs she always knew that those weren''t going to be where she stayed to grow in the long term. When Leilah found eleanors company she looked into it and saw its successes and how fast the company was growing. She went into the job knowing how the company as a whole was growing but she didn''t know the reason for this company''s success was because of its leadership. When she became Eleanors secretary she immediately saw why the company was as successful as it was. The directors of each department were the directors based on experience and their way of working with people, not because they knew Eleanor or the people around her. When leilah met eleanor she was the example of a leader she was kind and didn''t give you any worry that she would be someone hard to work with. Eleanor explained the job calmly and thoroughly to Leilah so there would be less room for mistakes. She was always like that calm, trustworthy, her way of saying things never made anyone feel as though they were lower than her. The one problem Leilah had with Eleanor was after a year or so of working there she realized. No matter how hard she tried eleanor would kindly turn down her offers to go out and if leilah would try and talk about things outside of work unless it was small talk eleanor would avoid the conversation. It led to a gapp in their relationship that leilah wanted to close but Eleanor always kept walls up that were so thick and tall, leilah didn''t know if anyone knew what Eleanor was like outside of work. That was until one day where they accidentally ran into each other in probably the worst way possible. Eleanor was at a club that night and had drank more than she could handle and while walking home ran into leilah. Leilah wanted to help her get home but Eleanor refused, she wouldn''t tell her where she lived, someone she could call, not even what direction she lived in, nothing. Leilah kept pushing and Eleanor slowly lost patience. Since Eleanor was drunk, anything she felt she portrayed she yelled at leilah and told her that her personal life was none of leilah''s business and if she wanted to continue being her secretary she should walk away and pretend they never saw each other. Leilah, In absolute shock and fear of losing her job, walked away but was not going to forget what she had seen that night nor was she going to pretend it never happened. The following monday came and started with an apology from Eleanor she said she shouldn''t have threatened leilah''s job and will be more careful when she decides to drink in the future. To Eleanor that was the end but to Leilah she wanted to know just who Eleanor was outside of work now more than ever. The never ending questions she wanted to ask were never answered the rest of her time working for her and now she''s dead. There was so much she wanted to know and now it''s almost doubled. She always knew eleanor had secrets since she was so closed off but to randomly commit suicide when your at the peak of your career nothing made sense. how could everything she had matter so little that she could actually take her own life. When leilah finally opened the book and began to read, her questions were slowly answered With each turn of the page. She had made a lot of ideas in her head over the years but she never would have imagined this. As she read deeper into the book she realized her question of ¡°why¡±should have been ¡°how¡±. The intro - Ch 2 You pick up this book and turn the page, what for? Maybe you knew me before? Did you just randomly find it and know nothing about why it was written or who wrote it? In your eyes it could have just ¡°looked interesting¡± maybe intriguing? I may not know the reason for you picking this book. All I can say is it shouldn''t disappoint. If you don''t already know, this book is about my life. Both the good and the bad, the life story of Eleanor Francis. Some could be asking yourself ¡°do you mean the CEO?¡± others that name might not ring any bells. The answer is yes. At 25 I became a CEO, and at 29 I published this book. In some eyes I was at the peak of my career and they would do anything to be where I was. I mean who wouldn''t want the money and list of accomplishments I had at such a young age. That was all at face value though, my nights were long and filled with despair and self hatred. But before I get into why that was and how my nights became so different from my days. I''m going to tell you a little about my family background. I''ve lived in San Francisco for as long as I can remember. I lived in an average home with my mother, father, and younger sister till the age of about 14. In those years I went to an average public school that wasn''t huge but also wasn''t small and my home life was nothing to brag about. Each parent had their favorite and sadly I wasn''t my fathers. My father was the one who brought home the checks while my mother drowned herself with alcohol and since she was known as an alcoholic couldn''t find a job. My father didn''t care to divorce, to him it would have been more work and he would have to take full custody of my sister and I, which he did not want. Not when he could leave me to my mother and focus on my sister''s upbringing. All he cared about was the fact his small business was growing and that my younger sister would be the next in the family to have big accomplishments. In my fathers eyes I was the spitting image of my mother and the only future I had was to wallow in self pity and end up where my mother is, an alcoholic. I guess he wasn''t wrong but that''s beside the point. He was no better than the rest of us. One day when I was 14 and my sister was 10 I went to school like any other day. My sister stayed home because she was sick and my father went to work. Little did we know my fathers ¡°work¡± was just a company that majored in fraud, I guess he must have stolen from the wrong person because that day couldn''t have ended worse. I came home to my mother and sisters bodys on the floor. They had bleed out from having their artery sliced with a blade and next to them my father with an open bottle of pills next to him. I guess he came home early that day and saw what had happened and either out of fear of being next or the sadness from the death of my prodigy sister he decided death was his only escape. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I broke into tears after that. I never really cared for my parents but my sister never wanted to be involved. We grew up together as if we were twins. Our parents may have seen us as different sides of the family but to us there was nowhere to run but to each other. I cried for half an hour or so and then went on a search for proof against my fathers business. He had a study that was always locked but my guess was he had the keys on him. I was right, he did and in that study I found proof of every case of fraud he had part in. I called the police and told them what had happened and that I had proof of my fathers fraud. I left the papers and laptop filled with information by my fathers body. I took my mothers stash of cash for alcohol and some water and food and put it in a bag with some clothes and left. There was no way I was going to let them put me in foster care for the next 4 years when I''ve practically lived alone my entire life. I went far from home and found some cover for the night in an alley. I had a feeling the police would come looking for me so I hid. I ate a little and layed down to sleep but I couldnt get rid of this feeling of anger against my father. He actually cared so little for our family that he put us all in danger and now everyone I had to rely on was dead and I was left completely alone. I had never been so angry. I grew up with an alcoholic as a mother and a father that didn''t even see me as his kid and yet I had never been this angry. But was it really anger or was it pain and fear from being left alone and not knowing what to do next. While trapped within those questions I came to a conclusion. I decided that night that I didn''t care if I died but I wasn''t going to die until I showed up my father in his own goals. That even the daughter whom he saw only a future of failure, was going to become what he could never achieve. Little did I know I was going to do it in such a remarkable time too. I guess I can thank him for the inspiration even though he was a worthless father. I was out on the road for about a week before returning to my old home. There were still blood stains on the floor. The cops just took the bodys and papers and left the house as it was, oh well. There was nothing I could do but try and get rid of the memories of the moment I walked through the door. I tried to get as much blood out of the floor as possible and cleaned up the house a little. I didn''t know what to do next but I knew I needed somewhere to stay. I heard a knock at the door. It was our landlord who was also our neighbor. She must have seen me run into the house. I knew the landlord well. Me and my sister would sometimes go over to her house if we didn''t feel like being at home. She was almost like a second mother. She had kids of her own and was a single mother so I didn''t want to stay with her but I could stay in my home. So I got a job and told her that I would keep up the pay as long as she kept the fact I was there a secret and kept the power on. She reluctantly agreed knowing that if she didn¡¯t I would have just gone somewhere else. I stayed out of school for a couple months and worked full time in different jobs. Sometimes I was a waitress, other times I was a cashier. As long as it brought home a check I didn''t care the jobs were all outside of my home district so people wouldn''t recognize me. I kept up on the bills somehow and went back to school when I was ready, I did have to switch schools though. I decided to go to a school that I had to pay for and that was small so I had less of a chance of getting caught. It wasn''t a regular school, it was more like a cram school. I happened to hear about it while at one of my jobs, lucky me I guess. It was cheap but what they based their teachings on was more useful than any other public school. There were only a few of us, maybe 18. The school wasn''t in the best area but the fact it was small and sort of unknown was good for me. I barely survived on the money I made but luckily this cram school gave us lunch so at least I was getting something out of my money. I was always tired from working at night and then having to get up to go to school. Everyone in our class seemed friendly but I had no interest in making friends. There was already too much on my plate anyway. I made it clear to everyone I didn''t care for friends. Everyone got the notice except this one kid named Jackson, brown hair, green eyes, and was a little taller than me. He wouldn''t annoy me with questions about my personal life or anything but he wouldn''t leave me alone either. He would give me snacks if I looked tired and when we had to do group projects he would make sure to team with me. He was kind and I didnt get why because to me the world was cruel so why be kind to strangers. I didn''t completely ignore him though. We would have small talk here and there and always exchange greetings, nothing unusal. Little did I know this kid who was far too kind for his own good would become a huge part of my life. Jackson -Ch 3 This early morning was like any other. I was up before the sun so I had time to get ready and clean up the house. I cleaned in the morning because I did my homework late at night when I got back from work. Just after the sun rose I grabbed my bag filled with my books and a change of clothes for work and ran out the door. I lived in the Richmond district but my job and school were in Presidio Heights. I would bike to school which took like 45 minutes to an hour. School started at eight so I would go to a park nearby and finish my homework there and head to school when it was time. But today when I got to the door Jackson was waiting for me. Which was unusual because he was always late but the teacher let him slide because of his grades. He greeted me by the door with a quick good morning and followed me in. The building was small and long, at the back of the room was a blackboard that almost filled the entire span of the wall. We had around 20 desks in 4 columns with 5 rows. We didn''t have assigned seats because our teacher Mrs. Lawrence didn''t see the need. When I sat down Jackson sat behind me. It didn''t bother me so I didn''t bring anything up. Other students started filling the classroom as it got closer to the time for class to begin. I silently waited for Mrs Lawrence to get everyone''s attention when Jackson tapped on my shoulder. I jumped and he softly laughed while asking ¡°Did I startle you?¡± I said back ¡°of course I wasn''t expecting you to tap me.¡± and in a tone that said i''m not actually sorry he apologized and before I could say anything back Mrs. Lawrence was asking for everyone''s attention. Two periods had passed and it was now time for lunch. I was going to go and eat by myself where no one bothered me but Jackson had other plans. Before I could get up he ran up to my desk. And In a cutesy voice like he was begging he asked ¡° Eleanor- can you eat lunch with me today? Please.¡± I said ¡°not today sorry¡± but he kept going ¡°why?¡± and since I didn''t know what to say I just said ¡°i''m not in the mood for lunch¡± His face went from begging to sick of acting in seconds. He said ¡±I know you''re hungry so why don''t you just eat lunch with me? I''m not gonna try and kill you, I''m just gonna sit with you.¡± I sighed and agreed when we got to lunch he really did just sit next to me, he didn''t try and get me to go sit in a big group of his friends he just sat there. I began to feel a little pressured by the awkward silence though so I asked questions. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Why did you wanna eat lunch with me instead of your friends?¡± I asked, I think he was surprised by the fact I spoke first because he almost choked on his sandwich. But when he caught his breath his response was ¡°what friends?¡± I said ¡°The people you hang out with everyday. Those friends.¡± He looked at me for a minute and then said ¡°They aren''t my friends. I would never rely on them and they would never rely on me.¡± I was confused then but said ¡°ok¡± we ate lunch and talked about small things that didn''t matter and went back to class. The other two periods went by fast and when school was let out Jackson didn''t move from his seat. I had to talk to the teacher after class and when I was done I packed up my things to go but before I left I asked Jackson why he was still there. He looked up and said ¡°personal reasons.¡± I shrugged and said ¡°ok¡± if he had his reasons then it was none of my business and continued to walk out the door. I unchained my bike from the bike rack and was going to start walking to work when Jackson came running out. He laughed and said ¡°Thank god you haven''t left .¡± I swear I had never met someone more confusing than this guy. I laughed to myself and said ¡°and why is that?¡± in a joking tone. He smiled and said ¡°I decided I wanted to walk with you. So are you heading home?¡± I stared at him for a bit and then said ¡°you know don''t you find it creepy to come chasing after someone and then say you want to take them home?¡± he looked up at me and then said ¡°nope¡± We both laughed. I told him I wasn''t going home but I was going to work and he was welcome to walk with me. He excitedly accepted, it took us about 20 minutes to get there. At that time I was a waitress for a small restaurant called 5th street and when we got there he said goodbye and I went inside to start my shift but he didn''t leave. For a while he just laid on a bench across the street and watched the clouds or slept. I couldn''t really tell for about an hour or so and then he left. He was definitely interesting. The next day we met at the door and ate lunch together and he walked me to work. He wouldn''t leave my work right away though he always hung around outside and laid on the bench for awhile. This went on for about a month and half and during that time we had gotten closer. I didn''t know we were this close though because today while he walked me to work he asked ¡°can we study at your house you know with exams coming up.¡± And me being me stared him down for a good minute or so in complete shock and responded with ¡°sure if you want¡± then we both stood there in shock that I agreed. Like really Eleanor, have you lost your mind it was too late though he already looked excited, I couldn''t take it back. He asked what time and what day and I said since I got off work so late it would have to be on the weekend. He agreed and I went inside for my shift and he went to lay down and watch clouds. Before I knew it though it was saturday and jackson was coming over to my murder house at noon. He knew I lived alone but he didn''t know why and I wasn''t going to be telling him anytime soon. When he arrived I let him in. He had his bag and looked how he always did. I could tell he was nervous so in a monotone voice I said ¡°there is nothing to be afraid of, it''s not like I''m gonna hurt you¡±. He laughed and called me a liar, ¡°put your things on the coffee table¡± I said while grabbing drinks from the fridge. We studied and talked like any other day. It was actually pretty fun to have someone else in the house for once. A random question popped up in my head though, why does he stay after school and why does he watch clouds while I''m at work. I decided to ask but this may not have been the best decision. ¡°Why do you stay at my work for so long?¡± I asked. His eyes shot up from the paper he was looking at ¡°you noticed¡± he said ¡°how could I not.¡± I said We stared at each other for a minute or so before he said ¡°personal reasons¡± I sighed. I guess we weren''t to the point he could tell me I said ¡°everyone has their secrets¡± and he shrugged. We continued studying and at some point the awkward atmosphere faded. One day though I hoped I could finally know what those ¡°personal reasons¡± were and I hoped he would tell me on his own accord. Successor? - Ch4 It had been about a month since the incident. Most only cared about the incident for about a week and then went to the next big news headline. The only ones still worrying about what had happened were those of higher status in the company. The CEO of Zulo, a streaming service for movies and shows had died and no one knew who was supposed to take over her position. Leilah, Tony, Josiah, and Marcus were chosen as candidates to take over the job. No one knew if Eleanor had a certain person that she wanted to take her place because she left no will, no letter, she never even spoke of handing down the company to someone. Everyone was at a loss and was trying to keep the company from failing without her leadership. Each candidate went through an interview with an outside interviewer so they could avoid bias. The interview began with asking what their goal for the company was, and continued with questions like Do you see yourself following a plan like Eleanors? Do you intend to change the values of the company? What qualifications do you have for this position and why does it suit you? Average interview questions. Tony, who was Eleanor''s fill-in secretary until Leilah was hired. She was also the director of finances,she answered all questions with the best of her ability but to sum it up. Her feelings on the job were she had been part of the company since about the very beginning. She knew how the company became what it is now and she thought that being part of finances had taught her a lot about the company. She continued that she believed in what Eleanor had believed in and would not be changing the values or the end goal from what Eleanor had planned since the start. The next up to be interviewed was Marcus, he didn''t really see how the job suited him but others in the company saw him as a potential in him to be a good leader. He switched jobs within the company often and at some point he became a trainer for all the new employees and overtime that turned into his own group of trainers that Marcus led. He knew a lot of people within each department and seemed to get along with them as well. No one in the company saw him to be unreasonable and anyone trained by him personally says he made the job understandable and taught at a speed that fit the trainees needs. His thoughts on Eleanors goals and values was that if he got the job he doesn''t plan to change the company drastically but he also couldn''t hold himself to keep someone else''s ideals. They continued with Josiah, just by looking at him you could see he was nervous. Josiah had worked as a third party for Eleanor and was director of customer service. No one could deny that he worked at the company the longest and had a great work ethic. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. In the interview Josiah admitted he was only participating in the interview as a formality and also as a sign of respect to his friend who had passed away. He didn''t know why he was suggested as a candidate other than his long record for working for the company. He ended the interview by saying he had no interest in changing anything within the company whether it was its values or its goals. He said he believed in what Eleanor did not only because it was her goal but because it was a goal she made a reality. The last one to be interviewed was Leilah. She began the interview stating that she sees this as a great opportunity for her future but she doesn''t see how she deserves it. She had only been a secretary until now and it wasn''t even for that long. She may know the projects they''ve been working on and how Eleanor might have approached new projects but that was the thing. She didn''t look at projects and see how she would handle them she would look at projects and see how Eleanor might look at them. She continued saying this may be a good thing. In some eyes, a good way to keep the company from changing. The problem was she wasn''t Eleanor. Eleanor had goals and values and wanted to be her own person. Leilah had liked following others without having to put too much thought into things. Not to say she had been slacking while being a secretary. She just never saw herself going further then being a secretary. Leilah said she believed the company deserved to have someone lead them that thought ahead and saw a greater future, not someone who couldn''t see past their own two feet. She answered the last question with if she was given the job of course she would do whatever she could to keep Eleanor a part of the company even if the only way to do that was to try and keep up her ideals. They were told at the end of the interview that the results would be out in about a week. That following week was full of anxiety and anticipation while they waited for the results of who would be next to run the company. Who was chosen in the end? Tuesday was the decided day they were going to release the name of who was chosen. They decided they would have a meeting with the directors and the candidates and release the name there so they could see who would be leading the company and talk to them in person. The man who interviewed them was also asked to release the name to everyone. There were 14 in all who attended the meeting, this including the 10 other directors as well as the four candidates. They all waited in the conference room till the interviewer had entered. He greeted everyone and stood at the podium at the front of the room. ¡°I know you''ve all been waiting patiently for the results. As I said thank you for your patience and I hope that no matter the results everyone can still leave this room as a team.¡± Everyone nodded and looked around the room for a brief period before he grabbed everyone''s attention once again. ¡°Now I am proud to announce Zulos new CEO... Marcus Whitley. I hope you can lead the company down a successful path congratulations.¡± Marcus was shocked to hear his name called but before he could even come to terms with what had happened he realized everyone was looking at him expecting him to say something. He got up and walked to the front of the room. ¡°If you didn''t know me before this my name is Marcus Whitley. I am honored to be taking over the company and I''m glad we can all work towards a successful future together.¡± Everyone clapped as he made his way back to his seat. You could tell Tony was disappointed. I guess in her mind she really didn''t see any other outcome than her being the next CEO. Josiah seemed indifferent as he went over to congratulate Marcus on his new position. Leilah walked over to Marcus as well ¡°I really don''t think they could have picked someone better¡± she smiled and continued to greet the other directors. Over time Marcus''s new position became common knowledge and Leilah continued as secretary. Helping Marcus get used to the way his life would be from now on. Tony stayed the director of finance and Josiah the director of customer service. Everything turned from being brand new to daily life over time, and the company began its new path with a new CEO.